


Fragment Exploration

by ooa113y



Series: Fragmented Friendships [2]
Category: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni | Higurashi When They Cry, Umineko no Naku Koro ni | When the Seagulls Cry
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27683617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ooa113y/pseuds/ooa113y
Summary: Rika gets drunk on Bernkastel (the wine), and accepts Bernkastel (the witch) into her body for a day.
Relationships: Bernkastel/Houjou Satoko, Furude Rika/Houjou Satoko
Series: Fragmented Friendships [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015933
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	Fragment Exploration

Rika took a few sips of Bernkastel, the wine. For the first time ever, not due to sadness of depression. For the first time ever, she welcomed Bernkastel, the witch, with open arms. Or with an open mouth, as it were.

She felt the witch inside her very soul. A familiar, though distant, feeling. "Hey. So, here we are. You helped me get this perfect world back. I'm going to show you around, okay?"

"This is the perfect world the two of us fought for, before you abandoned me?"

"Yeah. And I'm sorry about that, alright? I didn't know what I was doing."

"That's quite alright. You are hardly the most cruel person I had to deal with. So, how are we rolling this? You may have given me a physical form by drinking, but we still share a single body."

"I'll just take the backseat for a bit. If you need me, call over. But otherwise I'll leave it up to you as long as you don't do anything too crazy."

"That's very kind of you. How long do I have?"

"They sell these bottles to me without issue, and for whatever reason this village has a direct link with the German supplier of this wine brand of yours. So, as long as we're both happy with it."

"Huh. To think I could live a normal life if I wanted. Tempting. W-woah!"

"Ahhh, what are you doing! Geez! You almost made us fall!"

"Sorry, this tiny body of yours… I'm not used to it anymore. Need a bit to get my habits back", Bernkastel said while trying to stand up. "If Lambda saw this, she would die of laughter", she thought. Finally finding a semblance of balance she walked up to the dresser, finding the familiar and cute green dress, and put that on. "Today's not a school day, I hope?"

"Nope, nope, it's fine. Explore and relax all you like."

Bernkastel nodded. She spun around in the dress to ensure her balance. It was weirdly light compared to what she usually wore, but the small size of the body compensated for that a bit. She didn't think she could possibly wear something like this in her own body. After fumbling about some more, she finally left the house, only to immediately bump into Rena. "Fuck, now I have to remember how to talk to people… uhh…", Bernkastel stuttered, "meow?"

"H...hauuuuu!!!! So cute!!!! I'm gonna take you home!!!! So adorable! Meow! Meow! Hauuu!"

"Ermm… hi there, Rena. Happy to see you." Bern's speech may have been simple and basic, but her face truly smiled at the sight of this old friend. She felt happy for once. Or so she thought, anyway.

"What's this, huh, huh? You're acting like it's been a thousand years since we've met each other. Anyway, we're having a picnic here. I've already brought everyone else together, you know? Even Satoko is there. So come, come!"

"Sure!" Bern happily nodded, and Rena took her hand and dragged her outside. "Waaaaah, wait, I can't run this fast!!!" Fortunately, they didn't have to go particularly far, since their usual spot was just behind Rika's house.

"Ahh! There's two of them!" Bernkastel exclaimed looking at the confused green-haired pair. "Well, yes, there's only two of us today. Trion is sick, Yonon is out on business, and Shannon is on some goddamn island." Mion laughed. "You'll have to do with your good old Uncle and this bitch here."

"Oi." Shion glared angrily, but the expression quickly faded and was replaced by a look of concern for Rika who seemed genuinely confused by the fact that there were, in fact, two of them. In the meantime, the real Rika explained to Bern what she forgot, so Bern already looked more relaxed. "I'm just kidding. It's rare to see the two of you together, that's all. Nipple!... Um, I mean… nipah!"

"Riiiiiika-chaaaaan…" Mion asked. "Are you drunk?"

"What, there's absolutely no way! There's none!" Rena exclaimed in her defense. "If she drank anything stronger than a coke, she'd pass out, Sis", Shion confirmed.

"I'm just a little sleepy." Bernkastel replied. Both her and Rika were struggling to hold back laughter.

"You certainly do sleep a fairly significant amount. By what measures do you even awaken to go to school, pray tell?" Ah, and there was Satoko, with her bizarre way of talking. Now her, Bern could never forget. To the point that she made her actual girlfriend act in ways similar to how Satoko did. An unhealthy obsession, one could say, but were witches ever a paragon of sanity, really? Either way, Bern had no way to answer this question "for real", because the last time she had to go to school was a couple hundred years ago, and even that was just to see if rumours about yokai inhabiting that particular school were true.

However, she did have an answer to Satoko's question. Taking one of Rena's famous sausages in her mouth, she crawled towards Satoko, said "by THESE measures", grabbed her, hugged her, fed her the sausage and ended the process with a kiss. A deeper and more passionate kiss than anyone could expect of someone with a body like this, least of all Satoko.

Everyone stared on in shock. Meanwhile, Rika was panicking loudly inside Bern's thoughts. So loudly, in fact, that if anyone else was saying anything, Bern couldn't hear. "Jfkzigusjsck lfelwzlcck dakalqlacn skdkqlgjwadfk", said Rika. Bern wasn't sure how a human could make those sounds, but apparently being flustered significantly increases one's capabilities of mumbling incoherently, as Rika was helpfully demonstrating. Bern took note of that and waited until something resembling actual words could be heard again.

"Buh-buh-wuh-WHAT DID YOU DO!???"

Ah, there, finally. "I did you a favor. You're into her for so long and you can't make a single goddamn move without my help. Look, everything is fine."

Satoko was finishing another one of her ridiculous speeches. Neither Rika nor Bern heard the beginning, but they both did hear that she ended with "but I appreciate the well-deserved reward!". So Bern was right. Things were fine. More than fine, probably. Rika's heart thumped, but for a different reason now.

“Phew!” Shion grinned. “You’d think the big sister would at least be asked before such activities. Not that I mind. You two always did seem cute together!”

“Did they!?” Mion exclaimed. “They always seemed like just close friends to me!”

“You are simply utterly incapable of picking up any sort of item that one might refer to as a “hint”, Mion-san. It’s the sole reason you remain single despite the very evident fact that almost half the people — of every gender, might I add if you’ll allow — in this small village of ours are, how should I phrase it, madly in love with you.” Satoko brushed her off.

“Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?!!” Mion exclaimed, flustered and blushing. Shion continued poking fun at her sister. Leaving them to their own devices, Bern looked elsewhere. 

Rena was busy making strange noises. Nothing unusual here, but she had to be stopped before someone got abducted… Bern knew that Rika always secretly wanted to check out Rena’s home, but she also knew that said house was a mess, and that Rena wouldn’t actually take anyone to her actual home. Now, where she  _ would  _ take people given the opportunity, Bern did not know, and was scared of trying to even hazard a guess. Scared? Yeah. Bern was not scared of tornadoes and volcanoes, of angels and demons, or even of death itself, but she was a little scared of this girl. Weird. Still, she was glad that the girl was on their side.

“Anyway.” Bern cleared her throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you all… err, well. It’s been a day or two, I suppose —”, she corrected herself at Rika’s request, “— but I’ve been lonely and missed all of you a lot for some reason. How have you all been?”

“Aahhhh, seriously, you are so cuuuute!!! What is it with you today, you’re so happy and smiley and adowableeeeeeeeeeeee!!!” Rena kept making noises, changing naught but their direction.

“Well, clearly you’ve been doing well, Rena.” Bern smiled. “Find any cute stuff to take home lately? BESIDES myself.”

“Well, well! You know that Colonel Randy doll? I finally dug it out! And guess what, guess what was under it! This adorable painting of a beautiful blonde girl, and it wasn’t even in bad condition! She’s shooo cute! I wanna meet her!”

“Huh. Interesting. Wonder who’d throw that away.”

“Right!? So adowable and kyute! I can show you later!”

“Oh, sure. Hmmm… well, Mion, Shion, how are the two of you?”

“Eh, we’re doing the usual.” Shion grinned. “Dressing up in kinky outfits. Me at my restaurant, Mion at her school.”

“I do no such thing!”

“Oh yeah? Who’s the one that made me wear a literal bunny girl suit in the last punishment game?”

“Well, I didn’t dress up myself! Hrmph!”

“That’s because the only one who comes up with this style of punishment is you in the first place! Nobody else is that horny!”

“Well that’s their own problem innit?!”

“Fighting is bad. Please don’t fight. Please?” Rena pleaded.

“Sorry, you’re right”, both said at the same time. The two were just messing around, but Rena was too sensitive and took it seriously. Bern went “nipah!”, but in her thoughts, she was really regretting not being able to be here to see bunny Shion. “Oh well, I can arrange for it again sometime”, she figured.

“Hey, Rika”, Bern inquired, “what should I ask Satoko? I want to hear her story as well, but given how close the two of you already are…”

“Hm, let’s see…” Rika herself was lost in thought, but she came up with an idea quickly. “Hey, Satoko-chan. It’s not fair if you’re the only one who doesn’t share, riiiight?” Bern said with a grin. The grin was a bit more terrifying than she was going for, so Satoko broke out in a sweat for a short bit, but started talking soon enough afterwards.

“W-well, I do suppose that is a correct assertion, although I see no particular need in describing everyday activities that, if they do change, do so only barely. Nevertheless, I have been, as per usual, engaged in the installation of defensive mechanisms to protect the Hinamizawa village.”

Shion couldn’t help but snort at that, having recently experienced some of these “mechanisms” herself. She still couldn’t get that damn jam out of her favourite sweater, at least not to the full extent. Meanwhile, Satoko continued on. Bern realised this probably would last for half an hour if she were to talk in her usual way, but she didn’t particularly mind listening to her. Lambda could never pull this voice off quite correctly…

“The latest areas to be protected by yours truly include this very Furude Shrine, as well as what remained of the Hinamizawa forests. I have reinstated all the defensive mechanisms that were fired during our fight last week. The next area happens to be the shopping district, which I intend to protect tomorrow, barring anything that might come up and get in the way of operations. Besides that, I have recently found myself busy with preparation of food for the festival, as well as for Rika-san. At nights, I have mostly been partaking in the absolute lack of any activity whatsoever, or, in other words, sleep. But, though not confirmed, it is possible that this aspect of my schedule may be changing soon.”

Satoko stared at Bern. Bern was still processing the mess of words that were thrown at her, so it took her several more seconds to pick up on what she said. Bern smiled and nodded, and, internally, turned to Rika and said “There you go. Score.” “Pkafoozx ioreusd sdihfsdfqre asnodzasffee”, Rika confirmed (?) in apparent satisfaction.

Satoko still kept staring, as well as everyone else. “Oh, right, myself. I suppose it’s only fair that I share too.” Bern said, then realised she had no idea what to talk about. What was Rika busy with? She had no idea. She munched on the onigiri that Rena has made while thinking it over. Finally, she spoke.

“Well… just killing people, mainly... Nipah!”

Everyone stared at her, then, one by one, broke out in laughter. Rena was the only one who remained with a confused and worried look on her face. “It’s a joke, it’s a joke, miii~” Bern calmed her down. It seems she got away with this. Fortunate.

“Either way. Shall we engage in a more entertaining activity than merely running our mouths off?” Satoko offered. Everyone nodded. Bern did so especially eagerly, and her neck cracked a little. Rena noticed and went to rub it with her hand. “Pain, pain, go away!”

“Thanks, Rena. I think I’m better now.” This was the first time in a long, long while that anyone has actually helped Bernkastel relieve her pain, rather than attempt to make it worse (and yes, that included her girlfriend, though when she hurt her, it hurt good).

“Anyway, what shall we play?” Mion wondered.

“As we lack appropriate equipment, and as we are currently positioned on sacred grounds, I propose that we engage in an activity that requires nothing but the very aforementioned mouths.”

Bern had a lewd look on her face when she heard that, but she didn’t exactly plan on this. Satoko stared at her dumbfoundedly. “I mean a word game, geez!”

“Oh.” Bern blushed.

“That all sounds fine.” Shion agreed with a grin. “Which game did you have in mind specifically?”

“Originally, I was thinking of the simple game of shiritori, but as we seem to have someone whose mind draws amusing associations…”

“Ah. That could be fun.”

“What shall the punishment game be this time? This time?” Rena chimed in. “Ah, I remember these…” Bern thought to herself. “They were always so tame. I should come up with something more entertaining.”

Rena has spoken up instead. “The loser should help me dig out the cute blond girl! Hauuu!”

“Well, that’s not fair! What if you lose yourself, Rena?” Mion protested.

“Then, then, I’ll help you get anything you want!”

“That’s settled, then. Next up, the rules. To start with, I’m going to name a word. Afterwards, each of us will say what word they associate with it. Everyone gets points based on how many people named the same word as they did. Words that fit within very similar categories count as the same — so if someone names “car” and someone else says “vehicle”, that’s the same thing anyway, alright? One of the winning words is then picked to draw associations next. No repeating words. All clear? No objections? Good! Rules set, game… start! The first word is… “game”!”

“Cards!” “Chess!” “Checkers!” “Associations!” “Strip poker!”

“Oi, Shion… come on.”

“What? It’s what I thought of! You’re supposed to name the first thing that comes to your mind, aren’t you?”

“Not if the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of games is… ohhh, whatever. It’s fine. This is the same as “cards”, isn’t it?”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Bernkastel was honestly and happily giggling at this and Rena was flustered that her association had to be lumped together with something like this, but she did agree that they did fit together. “Chess and checkers… well, if Ryukishi ever sees this, he’s gonna murder us, but I say they count the same as well.” Mion continued. “So… Rena and Shion get 2 points. Rika and I get two points. Satoko, you get one point.”

“I understand where this association came from.” Bern said encouragingly to her friend. “But this is a somewhat unusual game, so it’s not going to stick in people’s brains. Try to keep that in mind.”

“Um… you… I am grateful to you for your assistance, however I do not believe now is the time to provide support to your enemy, especially something as strategically vital as this.” Satoko responded.

Bern shrugged. “Alright, then. Next word will be Chess.”

“Chessboard!” “Queen!” “Squares!” “Table!” “Pieces!”

“Hm.” Bern thought. “Queen and Pieces are the same thing. Chessboard and squares… in context, it works, but outside of the context of our specific conversation, nobody would ever link the two together. So, I’m not counting it. Likewise for tables. In other words… the only people who get two points this time are me and Rena.”

“Hauuuu! Thanks, Rika-chan!!! Gonna take you home!!!”

“Please don’t.”

“Next word is… queen!” Rena exclaimed.

“Wait, before that…” Bern took out a piece of paper. “I want something to keep track of the score, or else we’re gonna get lost.”

“Ehh? I can keep it in my head just fine.” Mion pouted. You and Rena got 4 points. Me and Shion got 3. Satoko has 2.

“Oh, very well.” Bern nodded. “In that case, would you mind keeping track of our score? I assume at least someone else here can call her out if she cheats.”

“I will do no such thing.” Mion pouted. “This is too easy to cheat with, doesn’t feel right.”

“Oh? So what — or who — does it feel right to cheat with?” Shion smirked. “Oh, shut up.”

“Anyway, queen, queen! Name the words, name the words!” Rena bounced around excitedly.

“Elizabeth!” “Myself!” “Satoko!” “Satoko!” “Satoko!”

Satoko glanced around. She suddenly had an unexpected advantage, but she also just threw that one out there as a joke. She certainly wasn’t expecting anyone at all to agree with her, much less the majority. “Satoko is our little ojou-sama… hauuuuu.” Rena explained. “She is my little sister, of course she is the queen to me!” Shion added on. Bernkastel just smiled, gently and honestly. Satoko couldn’t help but blush, thanking everyone. “Uh… alright then… that took a turn. Current score… Me - 4 points. Shion has 7. Satoko has 6. Rena and Rika have 8 each. Damn, this is gonna be tough, huh.”

“If I may request, could we pick a different starting word? Hearing associations with my own name isn’t necessarily going to be a pleasant experience, not to mention, there is an extremely high level of probability of such associations doing naught but looping back around to myself. Therefore, if my suggestion is accepted, I propose we shall make use of the word “vacation” as our next starting point.”

“Eh, eh, sure thing, my “queen”.” Mion laughed. “Oh, and no more picking names of anyone in our group, or we’re gonna end up restarting the game over and over, and that’s no fun. For now, vacation it is.”

“Beach!” “Beach!” “Island!” “Pool!” “Mountains!”

Mion scratched her head. “These first four are all pretty similar, but I don’t think any of them count as the same thing. I’d take “sea”, for instance. I’m counting them separately. Two points for Shion and Satoko, one point for everyone else. So now. I’ve got five. Shion has 10, Satoko, Rena and Rika all have 9. Oooh… we’re getting close competition here!”

“Close for everyone except you. Nipah!”

“H-hey now. Don’t discourage Mion, Rika-chan.” Rena protested.

“She’s right, you know. We only have time for a couple more rounds before it gets completely dark and — nom — before we’re out of food. Sounds like I’m gonna be digging the blondie up.”

“You should have fun with her, she’s somewhat similar to you, you know?” Bern blurted out, and everyone stared at her, wondering how she could possibly know or even assume that. Rena wasn’t confused, though. “She does have the air of a leader about her… it’s so adorable… hauuu!”

“Well I’ll be… it’s just a damn portrait, anyway, not like it’s gonna come to life.”

“You sure about that, Sis? Maybe it’s a ghost?”

“Ahhh, don’t joke about things like that!”

“Does Mion-san still maintain her fear of the supernatural? Hmph! It’d be far more practical to have reprehension towards my defense installations that you are likely to encounter on your way!”

Everyone laughed. Bern then seriously turned towards Mion and asked “So. Do you concede?”

The expression on Rika’s face was scary. Normally, Mion would never even consider such a thing. But then again, normally, Rika wouldn’t have such a demonic look on her face. In her shock, Mion could only mumble “Um, sure…”, before realising what she was being asked. But it was too late, so she sighed, ate the final bits of the sandwich in her hand, and got up.

“Hope you all had fun! We’re gathering again tomorrow, don’t forget!”

“I… had a lot of fun. Thank you.” Bern confirmed.

Everyone laughed it off as Rika was just being cute. Mion and Rena went on their way to dig up the mysterious blonde girl. Shion tried to grab Satoko, but Bern did that at the very same time. Satoko herself responded with confused noises.

“Come on, Sis, we should go home.”

“Wouldn’t you rather spend the night with me?” Bern said, in a more seductive voice than anyone Rika’s age should ever be able to pull off.

“I’ve got pumpkins for you to eat!” Shion said.

“That is not a particularly appetizing suggestion. I think I’ll take up Rika on her offer and spend the night with her for once.”

Bern hugged Satoko, let out a “nipah!”, and pecked her on the cheek. As she did so, she switched out, putting the flustered Rika back into her body. Rika still wasn’t sure what to do with this unexpected development, and the feelings of warmth kicking in didn’t make deciding any easier. However, she had to do one thing for sure. In her mind, she turned to Bern. “Thanks for giving me the courage. I really gotta drink more often.”

“Glad I could help. And please do. It’s a lot more fun than I remember.”

Rika herself reached out her hand for Satoko’s. Grabbing it, the two headed into the same abandoned shack they always lived in, but with far more to look forward to than usual.


End file.
